“Just to give you an idea, Anderson, 1.3 million Puerto Ricans out of 3.2 million that live in the island nation in Puerto Rico are receiving some sort of nutritional assistance. So that means that about 43 percent of the population needs this to put food on the table,” Cruz said Tuesday.

Verdict: True

About 1.3 million Puerto Ricans, or 42 percent of the population, are enrolled in the Nutrition Assistance for Puerto Rico (NAP) program, according to a government spokesperson for Puerto Rico.

Fact Check:

Cruz made the claim after CNN host Anderson Cooper asked for her reaction to reports that President Donald Trump complained in a private meeting with lawmakers about the amount of money being allocated to disaster relief in Puerto Rico.

“Well, the president continues to show his vindictive behavior towards Puerto Rico, and he continues to make the humanitarian crisis worse. What we’re talking about is a gap of $600 million that is needed to feed Puerto Rico,” said Cruz.

NAP is the Puerto Rican equivalent of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), an entitlement program used in most of the U.S. that provides benefits to lower-income people.

However, unlike SNAP, a portion of NAP benefits can be redeemed for cash. “Although the cash is designated for eligible food items, it is widely acknowledged that participants use at least some of their allotted cash for non-food essentials, such as medicine and hygiene products,” reads a report from the Department of Agriculture (USDA). NAP is funded through a capped block grant, and therefore does not expand or contract based on need like SNAP does.

A 2010 analysis from the USDA found that if Puerto Rico were to transition to SNAP, the number of households receiving nutrition assistance would increase 15.3 percent, along with a 22.7 percent increase in costs per year.

Puerto Rico typically receives about $2 billion a year for the NAP program, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), but in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, an additional $1.3 billion was allocated to support needy households. The governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, has requested $600 million in additional disaster relief funding.

While lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have moved to grant the request, Republicans and Democrats are divided over additional funding for Puerto Rico, including infrastructure projects for the island. The Trump administration released a statement in January calling the $600 million “excessive and unnecessary,” but recentreports, citing senators, have said that while Trump opposes additional aid, he does support the $600 million for NAP.

In the absence of legislative action, some Puerto Ricans enrolled in NAP have begun to see their benefits cut. WaPo reported that as of March 12, about 675,000 had seen their benefits reduced 25 percent, on average.

“It is imperative that Puerto Rico receives the federal resources necessary to successfully complete our recovery and reconstruction efforts in a timely manner,” Rosselló said in a February letter to Congress. “Otherwise the consequences will include an excessive delay in fiscal stabilization, continuation of the high levels of outmigration from the island to the states and failure to fully restart the island’s economy.”

Puerto Rico has a poverty rate more than threetimes the national level.

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One comment

On top of the two billion a year the Puerto Ricans receive from America, now cruz, the mayor of San Juan (the same one that slandered President Trump) now says they need “$600 million” MORE, to “close the gap” for their “welfare queens”. No wonder they suddenly want MORE! Just what America needs. Another couple million “welfare recipients” and wingnut voters. I certainly don’t think so. I hope I’m not in the minority. America can ill afford another “few million” sponges. Puerto Rico is in the tropical zone. That means they should be able to have food crops growing non-stop, year round. They also have a huge ocean stocked with food. Why don’t they grow food, and use existing resources, instead of sponging off American taxpayers. Of course, they are semi-American, so they already receive two billion in “assistance” yearly. What would happen if they suddenly become a state? They would contribute nothing to America except wingnut votes and a demand for MORE, MORE, MORE. Of course, that’s what the dims want. They don’t care about anything else. P.R., take a hike. Not to America!!